AMD's 35W "Bristol Ridge" A-Series APUs Now Available at Retail
by Anton Shilov on September 6, 2017 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
- AMD
- APUs
- Bristol Ridge
- AM4
We have some good news for low-power AMD builders this morning: AMD has (finally) begun to sell the 35W versions of their "Bristol Ridge" desktop APUs. Overall the company has released 3 35W retail Bristol Ridge SKUs, the A12-9800E, A10-9700E, and A6-9500E, with these chips fleshing out the low-power segment of AMD's AM4 platform through the end of the year.
AMD originally released its Bristol Ridge A9000-series APUs to OEMs in mid-2016, targeting desktops and laptops. The SoCs integrate one or two Excavator v2 modules (two or four x86 cores in AMD’s nomenclature), a Radeon R5/R7 iGPU featuring AMD’s GCN 1.2 (3rd generation) architecture and up to 512 stream processors, a dual-channel DDR4 memory controller and so on. Earlier this year AMD finally decided to release a rather broad lineup of its 7th-generation A9000-series APUs on the retail market, enabling end-users to build their own inexpensive AM4 systems, essentially popularizing the AM4 ecosystem compatible with the company’s latest Ryzen processors in general.
| AMD Bristol Ridge APUs and CPUs | ||||||
| CPU | GPU | TDP | ||||
| Modules/ Threads |
Base/Turbo (MHz) |
Brand | Stream Processors |
Base/Turbo (MHz) |
||
| A12-9800 | 2M / 4T | 3800 / 4200 | Radeon R7 | 512 | 800 / 1108 | 65W |
| A12-9800E | 3100 / 3800 | 655 / 900 | 35W | |||
| A10-9700 | 3500 / 3800 | 384 | 720 / 1029 | 65W | ||
| A10-9700E | 3000 / 3500 | 600 / 847 | 35W | |||
| A8-9600 | 3100 / 3400 | 655 / 900 | 65W | |||
| A6-9550 | 1M / 2T | 3800 / 4000 | Radeon R5 | 576 / 800 | ||
| A6-9500 | 3500 / 3800 | 720 / 1029 | ||||
| A6-9500E | 3000 / 3400 | 256 | 576 / 800 | 35W | ||
| Athlon X4 970 | 2M / 4T | 3800 / 4000 | - | 65W | ||
| Athlon X4 950 | 3500 / 3800 | |||||
| Athlon X4 940 | 3200 / 3600 | |||||
The originally planned retail lineup for Bristol Ridge included 11 SKUs with a mix of 35 W and 65 W TDPs, but until now, only select 65 W SKUs were available. In the meantime, the interest towards inexpensive Mini-ITX systems is high these days. AMD spent a little over a month after the formal introduction of the family to bring the 35 W A12-9800E and A10-9700E APUs to store shelves. In the last days of August, the new chips hit store shelves across the world: they can be purchased in the U.S., Europe and in Japan, a clear indicator that they are indeed available broadly.
The AMD A10-9700E costs $85 – $91 in the U.S., whereas the more advanced AMD A12-9800E is available for $105 – $113, depending on the retailer. Meanwhile, the A6-9500E, the most basic 35 W Bristol Ridge APU, can be purchased for around $55 – $58. In Europe and Japan, prices are traditionally higher, see the table below for details. Overall, the 35 W APUs from AMD do not look very affordable, but it is typical for chipmakers to charge extra for energy-efficient parts.
| Availability of AMD's Bristol Ridge APUs and CPUs | |||||
| Amazon | Newegg | Amazon UK | Caseking.DE | Japan* | |
| A12-9800 | $112.96 | $109.99 | £107.5 ($139) | €104.9 ($125) | - |
| A12-9800E | $112.95 | $104.99 | £140 ($181) | €99.9 ($119) | ¥13,993 ($127.9) |
| A10-9700 | $91.37 | $89.99 | £91.8 ($119) | €82.9 ($98.5) | - |
| A10-9700E | $91.37 | $84.99 | £122 ($158) | €79.9 ($95) | ¥11,664 ($106) |
| A8-9600 | $69.13 | $69.99 | £68.1 ($88) | €61.9 ($73.5) | available |
| A6-9550 | - | - | - | - | - |
| A6-9500 | available | - | £82.4 ($106) | €47.9 ($57) | - |
| A6-9500E | $58.19 | $54.99 | - | €49.9 ($59) | - |
| Athlon X4 970 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlon X4 950 | $66.27 | $66.26 | £77.6 ($100) | €51.9 ($62) | - |
| Athlon X4 940 | - | - | - | - | - |
| *Lowest price according to Hikaku.com, or according to AKIBA PC Hotline. | |||||
From AMD’s standpoint, the main purpose of Bristol Ridge CPUs and APUs is to fill the gap in the AM4 lineup before the company releases Raven Ridge APUs and cheap CPUs based on the Ryzen microarchitecture later on.
Related Reading:
- AMD Releases Bristol Ridge to Retail: AM4 Gets APUs
- AMD 7th Gen Bristol Ridge and AM4 Analysis: Up to A12-9800, B350/A320 Chipset, OEMs first, PIBs Later
Sources: Amazon, Amazon UK, Caseking, Newegg, AKIBA PC Hotline, Hikaku.com.
Image Source: AKIBA PC Hotline.
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ET - Thursday, September 7, 2017 - link
Yeah, that's something I also don't get on the Intel side. There are some high end HDMI 2.0 motherboards there, but who's going to buy a $400 (or even $200) motherboard and use the integrated graphics? It's people who buy cheap CPU's for an HTPC who need HDMI 2.0.lilmoe - Thursday, September 7, 2017 - link
I wonder if Qualcomm would have a solution for that. Widows 10 running on the snapdragon 835 might be a compelling low power, fanless option since it has better dedicated blocks for deciding (at least miles better than what Intel has you offer) and more up to date hdmi support.Sounds interesting if you ask me. The price should also be very competitive too.
HStewart - Saturday, September 9, 2017 - link
I seriously don't believe Snapdragon 835 is going to give serious native 86 apps even speed close to even Intel Atom. As a person that has 3 different Intel fanless machines - I would beg to differ - I would not doubt quad core fanless is coming soon - possible 8yxx series on in Cannon Lake - like 9xxx seriesCaedenV - Wednesday, September 6, 2017 - link
I would not say these have 'no value', but it is certainly a niche market. Small machines that cant use a dGPU, machines that have limited power/thermal capabilities but need OK graphics... heck, I am even debating getting something like this for my son's first PC as it is cheap and good enough for the basic games he will be playing.But you are right, for most situaitons, an APU is garbage. Typically you are better off with more CPU capabilities and lower GPU ability of an Intel chip for a similar price, or getting a chip with less on-board GPU power paired with a dGPU.
Up until recently I was using an APU for my home server. Not super quick or powerful... but low power and 'good enough' to saturate gigabit Ethernet... plus I got it for free from a friend who didn't need it anymore... so there is that. I guess when an APU is free then its value proposition improves rather dramatically lol.
HStewart - Wednesday, September 6, 2017 - link
Ok maybe say "Little Value" instead - just that there is better option now a days."But you are right, for most situaitons, an APU is garbage. Typically you are better off with more CPU capabilities and lower GPU ability of an Intel chip for a similar price, or getting a chip with less on-board GPU power paired with a dGPU"
That might be true for desktops and gaming machines - but not for average customer. Most customers don't need the dedicated GPU that is gaming machines - the internal GPU is well suited for their for example office needs. One of the smartest things Intel did is create its only integrated GPU's - this is great for notebooks - it does not need to be as powerful as NVidia and AMD external GPU but it does what it needs.
A good example is my dad, He needs to access internet for mail and online reservations, occasion word for documents. Does not do much need much graphics - only for limited use with pictures and possibly some videos. He would never ever build a desktop machine - and never has.
HStewart - Wednesday, September 6, 2017 - link
One note back in when I actually built my desktop machines - oddly back in Pentium 4 days - My dual Xeon had most of it already built - just add memory, hard drives and video card.I included some of Pentium 4 with internal GPU, my thought if external GPU failed - at least I had GPU on machine to recovered it. I don't believe I ever used them - I built them for 3D Render Nodes so it was not really needed.
ET - Thursday, September 7, 2017 - link
I think that the most compelling here is the A8-9600, for people who want to spend as little as possible and still have something that's decent and well rounded. The G4560 is theoretically cheaper, but more expensive in practice, and its integrated graphics are really cut down.xXx][Zenith - Wednesday, September 6, 2017 - link
A12-9800 compared to A10-7860K Kaveri:Rise of the Tomb Raider: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp45DQo8mUM
F1 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAZylXNgEto
xXx][Zenith - Wednesday, September 6, 2017 - link
Btw, funny thing that the A12 is priced around Ryzen 3 1200. But you can get more performance for your money investing in G4560 plus an entry level GPU. Bristol Ridge was initially planned for mid-2016, why was the delay, why release now so close to RR?ToTTenTranz - Wednesday, September 6, 2017 - link
It wasn't delayed, it was sold exclusively to OEMs. A good reason might be because AM4 consumer motherboards weren't available until earlier this year with Ryzen.